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TSS and TBC winners 8/1-8/15

First off I just want to say how much I have enjoyed moderating these last two weeks. Finally, I have had some time, actually two weeks off for vacation, which has allowed me to really be a part of just about every thread on both TSS and TBC.
In fact, I have not read this thoroughly with so much pressure since college....
This has not been an easy task, choosing top posts among so many, and I really mean many great posts from many great members. I have always appreciated the participants here but delving deep into each of your rationale I really see how special this site is. Boxing truly is carried by passion and that is what lead my choosing. Thanks for the opportunity I hope I did all proud.
The winners are below, congrats!
-Amayseng

THE SWEET SCIENCE

First place --Brad
Backed up by both passion and fact, Brad exposes why he feels Floyd has left some to be desired. If you claim to be the best you have to act like it. He uses Duran, a true ATG as example how an ATG behaves by who he challenges. Floyd has been the never ending argument between fans for years about being "tbe". Brad makes a great case.

Mayweather Should Challenge Golovkin To Prove He's "OOTBE"

I agree that Floyd needs to swim in deeper waters if he wants to be considered an "OOTBE." Enough of these nonsense fights: Victor Ortiz, Guererro, two with Maidana. There was a real challenge that everyone wanted to see with Pacquiao and they couldn't get it done. Spar me the network deals bs. If either really wanted that fight to demonstrate that they are the best, they could get it done. Don King and Bob Arum worked together on Duran-Leonard I. Showtime and HBO got together for Lewis-Tyson even after both said it had to be on their network or it wouldn't happen. If the fighters really want it, the networks will find a way to make it happen. They'll make money. Problem is Floyd doesn't really want it to happen. Or it would. It's the difference between him and guys like Ali and Duran. Those two were always looking for bigger challenges. Duran beats Moore to win the junior middleweight title, he goes after the baddest fighter out there Marvin Hagler. At MIDDLEWEIGHT. Marvin's weight. His natural weight. And only a few months after the Moore fight. I'm sure Duran could have given us hundreds of good reasons not to fight Hagler, like Floyd would have if he was around back then. But he didn't. He fought him. Then he went after Tommy Hearns!! Even though Duran lost both those fights,the fact that he wanted them at all is something to be celebrated. Unlike Floyd's never ending list of reasons big fights can't be made. So Floyd has stayed in shallow waters his entire career while true greats like Duran and Ali swam out in deep seas. No OOTBE for Floyd in my book.

Second Place - Deepwater2
"Boxing brings dads and sons together". Simple yet profound as it defines why our beloved sport will never "die". It is a passion that one generation passes down to the other. Sure others catch on for their own reasons, but it will never die because of this fact.

Of Boxing, Fathers, And Sons, And An 'Adults Only' Trip To Barclays

I remember when I started boxing, I hid it from my family.I told them I went to the pal for wrestling . My family was well to do and when I first mentioned it to my mom she cut it down right off the bat. My dad went to Fordham law, was a top guy in Wall St and involved in politics. My mom told me no way and don't tell my dad. I mentioned it to my dad I was thinking about entering the Gloves and he told me the jab is the most important punch and he can't wait to see me in the ring. He was so proud. He showed me combos. What a surprise . After that I heard all the stories of uncles and cousins boxing in Ireland and Lefrak city queens NY . My dad was a smart man and a tough man that never backed away from an argument or the bar. Boxing brings dads and sons together.

Third place-- The Roast
Another simple point, most likely overlooked. The Roast like the rest of us love our sport for the violence, physicality and carnage it can bring. But boxing is not a gladiator sport, it is the "sweet science" and what makes it that is the fact that it is carried out with respect and dignity. Here we have a die hard fan that states if boxing resorted to being matched as one man made a sacrificial lamb for the slaughter, his morals and values will prevail and he would no longer be a participant. That is passion.

MISMATCH CITY Garcia Smashes Undersized Salka in Brooklyn Showcase

Deplorable. Three mismatches I did not need to see. I just want to see Danny Garcia lose now more than ever. Why bother fighting a guy that has no chance? So wrong. This is like tossing Danny into the ring with 3G. No need for an unfair beating to take place. If this card was what boxing was all about I wouldn't watch anymore. It was an awful card. Unfair and disgusting.

THE BOXING CHANNEL

First place---oubobcat
Great points on how a 49 year old is going for history, a young destroyer will take on any challenge to make his mark, the cold war thawing, the fight stopper known as TSAH being outsmarted. Great post on how boxing always perseveres. Sometimes boxing works itself out.

Bernard Hopkins vs. Sergey Kovalev, what does this fight mean for boxing

This fight means a lot to the sport. The are so many underlying tones and potential long lasting impact from this fight getting done.

First, its a good intriguing fight between probably the two best light heavyweights in the world. One is an up and coming destroyer who many think will be a star in this sport. The other is a 49 year old champion who continues to fight at a high level and historically defy the odds. Can Hopkins do it once again and reign on top a deep division nearing the age of 50?

It also sets a good precedent of a fighter seeking to enhance his legacy by taking on the much more difficult challenge instead of an easier fight for bigger money. Hopkins is setting an example for others to follow.

But there are more political impacts on this fight getting done than any other fight in recent memory.

This does signify a thawing in the Golden Boy/HBO relationship. This is very important. This opens the door to other Golden Boy fighters to appear on HBO in the future as long as they are not aligned with Al Haymon (more on him later). Remember, there were two versions of the Cold War. One was Golden Boy vs Top Rank and the other was HBO vs Golden Boy. Now part of the HBO/Golden Boy relationship is thawing.

As for Haymon, he was out maneuvered here. There were rumors he was holding things up in the Stevenson negotiations to get Hopkins stripped by the IBF which had a Friday deadline. Thus, allowing the top two fighters in the IBF rankings to face off for that belt. Follow me here for a second...the top ranked IBF fighter is Nadjib Mohammedi. On Friday, Gabreil Campillo fought Thomas Williams Jr. for that 2nd slot in the rankings. It was a fight orchestrated by Haymon in which his fighter Williams was heavily favored. Haymon figured Williams to win and get the shot at the vacant title (which Hopkins may have been forced to do if he didn't reach an agreement Friday and wanted to face wither Stevenson or Kovalev). Ironically in all this, Williams was surprisingly upset on Friday.

Think about this too...Haymon has a lot of fighters. He was trying to maneuver one of his fighters into a title fight while still securing a big money fight for his other guy in the same division. By stalling and allowing Hopkins to seek other options before closing a deal, Haymon just cost Stevenson a big fight for big money and will have to force him to accept something less lucrative. Now don't think other fighters did not take notice here. It could have an impact on Haymon signing more fighters in the future.

Finally, HBO is still sending a strong message to Haymon that they will not be associated with him and will work to undermine him. Again, don't think other fighters have not taken notice. HBO still has by far largest boxing budget.

This also may put pressure now to make the Floyd undercard very big to steal back some thunder that was lost and to try to ensure that the event is not a PPV bomb. It could result in seeing a Garcia-Matthysse like fight added as the co-feature (Santa Cruz-Rigondeaux?)

The Kovalev-Hopkins fight is very significant in so many different ways for this sport.

Second place---The Commish
I will not review, read for yourself, the man is among boys. The passion of boxing has lead his life.

Boxing's Dying? They've Been Saying That For Over 50 Years...

In college, those of us in a "Sports Journalism" class had to interview a journalist and write a paper on that person. Our subject could have been an author, magazine editor or writer, news writer, columnist or sportswriter. I chose Arthur Daley.

It was 1972, and he was a columnist for the New York Times. He was in his late 60's, as I recall. Daley wrote "Sports of the Times," a widely-read and popular column. In it, he wrote about most sports and the stars of each sport. Baseball was his favorite sport, bar none. He also rattled off other sports which he favored and enjoyed. Boxing was not on his list.

When I asked, "What about boxing?" he asked me, "Is that one of your favorites?"

I said "It's not one of my favorites, Mr. Daley. It IS my favorite."

He patted my shoulder.

"Find another favorite sport," son, he said. "Boxing is on the decline. My guess is, by the end of this decade, boxing will be dead and gone. It may not even take that long. It may be gone by the middle of this decade."

By the middle of the decade, it was Arthur Daley who was gone, the victim of a massive heart attack while on his way to work. At that time, much of the talk in the sports universe was of the rematch between Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali, just a few weeks away.

That was over 40 years ago. In those years, have heard about boxing's imminent death more times than there are posts here on TheSweetScience.com. Yet, the sport lives. And thrives.

One of my wife's best frienda is married to a guy named Bruce who cannot stand boxing.

Around 20 years ago, he told me boxing wouldn't survive beyond the year 2000. He said that, not from any facts, but from a dislike of the sport. The world is loaded with guys like Bruce, guys who attack the sport just because they don't like it and don't understand it. For him, there's golf. And tennis. And perhaps even polo.

Ten years ago, MMA was supposed to be the new sport which would kill boxing. A few of my colleagues at SiriusXM even made it a point to tell me "You'd be doing yourself a favor by learning as much as you can about MMA, because boxing is dead."

Can't happen. Didn't happen. Won't happen. I'm a boxing lifer. Never getting out. Can't be released. Won't walk out. Destined to die in here, probably while holding pads for some young prospect who will go on to greatness but has yet to even spar a single round.

Boxing has survived wars, depressions, recessions and scandals. It has survived the evil MMA assault, which was to be boxing's Kryptonite, boxing's Ebola Virus. It has survived the mob, fixed fights, rigged decisions and officials on the take. Boxing has survived Don King. Boxing has survived the ABC-King-Ring scandal. Boxing has survived closed-circuit. Boxing has survived over-saturation on free TV and wallet-draining attacks by PPV. Boxing has survived hoping for big fights that never get made.

Boxing has survived it all.

It continues to survive, and even flourish.

Boxing is the greatest fighter of all. It gets knocked down over and over. It keeps getting back up and coming back stronger and stronger.

To Arthur Daley, to Bruce and all you anti-boxing guys: Boxing ain't going away.

Boxing is here and it's here to stay. In fact, I have heard that, long after the nuclear wars have melted our planet, only roaches will be left.

Make that roaches and boxing...and all of us who love it!

-Randy G.

Third place---Skibbz
The man gets down on what I think many fans and analysts have been overlooking. GGG is not just a power punching killer, his spacing, accuracy and timing is phenomenal. Perfect timing will use an opponents momentum against them and GGG does this to perfection. He made a great point about GGG, he does not cut off the ring he walks you to where he wants you to be. All GGG's physical attributes are controlled by his boxing iq, the sweet science it is.

Technical Breakdown of Gennady Golovkin

What this expert analysis fails to mention is the most crucial aspect of GGG's boxing, failed to be picked up because of the lack of ring experience the analyser has. The reason why his punches do so much damage and cause his opponents to break down physically and mentally is his impeccable timing.

The video says he moves cuts the ring off well, feints a 1-2 then throws a 1-2. Throws a right lead after a bunch of 1-2s. Come on this expert analysis could have been put forward by a blind man.

Gennady is so focused when he fights, so aware of his opponents position and his knowledge of his own reach that he can time you to perfect with almost every punch. Again what the video fails to mention is that Gennady doesn't simply cut off the ring, he maneuvers his opponent around the ring. He tells you where to move, shows you where the space is and if you don't get the idea a few well placed, well timed punched will quickly show you where the route lies.

A well timed punch with stellar technique will do more damage than a shot with power behind it thrown at the wrong time. The pin point accuracy also does much to aid your efforts in the ring... If you watch a Golovkin fight, note his timing and how he maneuvers his opponent before the punches are thrown. He's very economical with every step and every move he makes. It's more than a simple feint and standard cutting off the ring..

Re: TSS and TBC winners 8/1-8/15

Finally a competent judge! Finally the Roast gets on the scoreboard, (the scoreboard that we never see Dino) thanks for the nod A-Seng. You see what all the other mods have not, the greatness of the Roast. At least now I will not be shut out on the final scoreboard (if we ever see it Dino)

Re: TSS and TBC winners 8/1-8/15

Originally Posted by the Roast

Finally a competent judge! Finally the Roast gets on the scoreboard, (the scoreboard that we never see Dino) thanks for the nod A-Seng. You see what all the other mods have not, the greatness of the Roast. At least now I will not be shut out on the final scoreboard (if we ever see it Dino)

Hehehe! The Roast is always at the OK Corral. Who will be coming around the mountain when Clementina comes?

Re: TSS and TBC winners 8/1-8/15

Re: TSS and TBC winners 8/1-8/15

I had notes out all over the place for days around here, looked like I had exams coming up.

This was a difficult task, I did not expect it to be such. Among so many analytic, factual, well written and conceived discussions it made it very challenging. Guys like Shadow, The Good Doctor, Storm and Bsug could have all won multiple times. These guys are like a consistent JCC who just keep coming strong one after another. That is when I decided to find a common theme. Passion and also what the sweet science is about.
It was fun, I seriously have not read so much in two weeks since college.

Re: TSS and TBC winners 8/1-8/15

Originally Posted by amayseng

I had notes out all over the place for days around here, looked like I had exams coming up.

This was a difficult task, I did not expect it to be such. Among so many analytic, factual, well written and conceived discussions it made it very challenging. Guys like Shadow, The Good Doctor, Storm and Bsug could have all won multiple times. These guys are like a consistent JCC who just keep coming strong one after another. That is when I decided to find a common theme. Passion and also what the sweet science is about.
It was fun, I seriously have not read so much in two weeks since college.

Though I really enjoyed it.

It shows that you read and were very through in your selections. Your moderating was top notch as well. sir.